These autumn days are once again filled with grape harvest “festivities”. I remember from my Maulina childhood that these celebrations were great local events in the public spaces of cities and towns where there were numerous vineyards for the production of wine. These musts ranged from small family productions and many other vintages sold complete to large producing companies that did not always pay well for the fruit destined for the industrial sector. Several renowned wineries present in the current market operated and continue to operate in this way. This situation has motivated various acts of rebellion and resistance, creating something like profane wines that respect the most natural forms in creation.
Deslenguados Pigs is a wine fair that has paid attention to this phenomenon, creating a space that visualizes these small wine growers and oenologists, mainly heirs of small family vineyards, who through persistence and hard collective work can offer us products of noble quality. . Several of them have been the custodians of ancestral vines that are part of our heritage, many other lovers of ferment, and certainly also some utopians. The variety of this market not only brings together some heirs, but there are also migrants from different countries who, with different experiences, contribute to our culture of good drinking.
This Saturday, in a space that at times seemed small, the XXIII version of this natural wine fair was held, which has become a milestone in the context of the “revolution” of Chilean wine. From what I could see, several producers were present, such as Viña Prado, Colectivo Mutante, Javiera Ortuzar, Villalobos, Leonardo Erazo, Patricio Aravena, among whom I already knew their wines. Because of my Maulina identity, I paid attention to the Maulina vineyards and I was able to discover some Milandra, Evangelina, and Cancha Alegre wines, with several of their products in which I recognized the juice of the fruit. Some wines from Viña Joda seemed novel to me, and I cannot fail to mention a GSMC Blend from Los Chanchitos. It was an opportunity to try different Garnachas, País, Cariñan and Cinsault from several other participating vineyards. There was no shortage of sparkling wines, ciders and staples of national production. Unfortunately I was not able to meet my expectations of meeting Manuel Moraga, a great wine cultivator known for his emblematic Cacique Maravilla brand.
Deslenguados Pigs is undoubtedly an excellent reference for the knowledge of natural wines. Alvaro Tello’s investigative work is solid in this regard, which is why he is recognized as an authority on this subject. However, Deslenguados Pigs is a project that does not end at this fair, they are prominent producers of relevant content around wine culture. On its website you can find different publications that strengthen knowledge with a quality that is sometimes scarce among wine communicators on social networks. Long live Pigs Deslenguados, Alvaro Tello and his collaborators who put their passion in this project, strengthening the level in the production of cultural content.
